"Artemis Fowl 02 - The Arctic Incident" - читать интересную книгу автора (Colfer Eoin)

'No. Just to build a factory would have set us back two years, and there's no guarantee that Foaly wouldn't have discovered it. We had no choice.'
Koboi swivelled to face her partner. 'You look terrible. Have you been using that ointment I gave you?'
Cudgeon rubbed his head tenderly. It was bubbled with horrific lumps. 'It doesn't work. There's cortisone in it. I'm allergic.'
Cudgeon's condition was unusual, perhaps unique. The previous year he had been sedated by Commander Root during the Fowl Manor siege. Unfortunately, the tranquillizer had reacted badly with some banned mind-accelerating substances the former acting-commander had been experimenting with. Cudgeon was left with a forehead like melted tar, plus a droopy eye. Ugly and demoted, not a great combination.
'You should get those boils lanced. I can barely stand the sight of you.'
Sometimes Opal Koboi forgot who she was talking to. Briar Cudgeon was not the usual corporate lackey. He calmly drew a customized Redboy blaster, firing two bursts into the hoverchair's arm.The contraption whirled across the stippled rubber tiles, coming to rest leaving Opal sprawled across a bank of hard drives.
The disgraced LEP elf caught Opal by the pointed chin. 'You better get used to looking at me, my dear Opal. Because soon this face will be on every view screen under this planet, and on top of it.'
The tiny pixie curled her fingers into a fist. She was unaccustomed to insubordination, not to mention actual violence. But at moments like this she could see the madness in Cudgeon's eyes. The drugs had cost him more than his magic and looks, they had cost him his mind.
And suddenly he was himself again, graciously helping her up as though nothing had happened.
'Now, my dear, progress report. The B'wa Kell is eager for blood.'
Opal smoothed the front of her catsuit. 'Captain Short is escorting the human, Artemis Fowl, to E37.'
'Fowl is here?' exclaimed Cudgeon. 'Of course! I should have guessed that he would be suspected. This is perfect! Our human slave will take care of him Ч Carrere has been mesmerized. I still have that power.'
Koboi applied a layer of blood-red lipstick. 'There could be trouble if Carrere is captured.'
'Don't worry,' Cudgeon assured her. 'Monsieur Carrere has been mesmerized so many times that his mind is blanker than a wiped disk. He couldn't tell any tales, even if he wanted to. Then, once he has done our dirty work for us, the French police will lock him up in a nice padded cell.'
Opal giggled. For someone who never smiled, Cudgeon had a delicious sense of humour.



CHAPTER 6: PHOTO OPPORTUNITY

CHUTE E37, HAVENI CITY, THE LOWER ELEMENTS

THE unlikely allies took the goblin shuttle up E37. Holly was none too pleased. First of all, she was being ordered to work with public-enemy number one, Artemis Fowl. And secondly, the goblin shuttle was held together by spit and prayers.
Holly hooked a corn rig over one pointy ear. 'Hey, Foaly? You there?'
'Right here, Captain.'
'Remind me again why I'm flying this old slammer.' LEPrecon pilots referred to suspect shuttles as slammers because of their alarming tendency to slam into the chute walls.
'The reason you're flying that old slammer, Captain, is that the goblins built this shuttle inside the port, and all three of the original access ramps were removed years ago. It would take days to get a new rig in there. So, I'm afraid we're stuck with the goblin ship.'
Holly strapped herself into the pilot's wraparound seat. The thruster toggles almost seemed to jump into her hands. For a split second, Captain Short's natural good humour returned. She was an ace pilot, top of her class in the Academy. On her final assessment, Wing Commander Vinyaya had written that Cadet Short could fly a shuttle pod through the gap in your teeth. It was a compliment with a sting in the tail. On her first try-out in a pod, Holly had lost control, crash-landing the craft two metres from Vinyaya's nose.
So, for five seconds, Holly was happy. Then she remembered who her passengers were.
'I wonder, could you tell me,' said Artemis, settling into the co-pilot's chair, 'how close the Russian terminal is to Murmansk?'
'Civilians behind the yellow line,' growled Holly, ignoring the enquiry.
Artemis pressed on. 'This is important to me. I am trying to plan a rescue.'
Holly grinned tightly. 'There's so much irony here, I could write a poem. The kidnapper looking for help with a kidnapping.'
Artemis rubbed his temples. 'Holly, I am a criminal. It's what I do best. When I abducted you, I was thinking only of the ransom. You were never supposed to be in any danger.'
'Oh really?' said Holly. 'Apart from bio-bombs and trolls.'
'True,' admitted Artemis. 'Sometimes plans don't translate smoothly from paper to real life.' He paused, cleaning some non-existent dirt from his manicured nails. 'I have matured, Captain. This is my father. I need all the information I can gather before facing the Mafiya.'
Holly relented. It wasn't easy growing up without a father. She knew. Her own father had passed away when she was barely sixty. More than twenty years ago now.
'OK, Mud Boy, listen up. I'm only saying this once.'
Artemis sat up. Butler stooped as he entered the cockpit. He could smell a war story.
'Over the past two centuries, with the advances in human technology, the LEP have been forced to shut down over sixty terminals. We pulled out of northern Russia in the sixties. The entire Kola peninsula is a nuclear disaster. The People have no tolerance to radiation, we never built up a resistance. In truth, there wasn't much to close down. Just a Grade Three terminal and a couple of cloaking projectors. The People aren't very fond of the Arctic. A bit frosty. Everybody was glad to be leaving. So, to answer your question: there's one unmanned terminal, with little or no above-ground facilities, located about twenty klicks north of Murmansk Ч'
Foaly's voice blurted from the intercom, interrupting what was dangerously close to a civil conversation. 'OK, Captain. You've got a clear run to the subway. There's still a bit of waffle from the last flare, so go easy.'
Holly pulled down her mouth mike. 'Roger that, Foaly. Have the rad suits ready when I get back. We're on a tight schedule.'
Foaly chuckled. 'Take it easy on the thrusters, Holly. Technically, this is Artemis's first time in the chutes, seeing as he and Butler were mesmerized on the way down. We wouldn't want him getting a fright.'
Holly gunned the throttle quite a bit more than was absolutely necessary. 'No,' she growled. 'We wouldn't want him getting a fright.'
Artemis decided to strap on his restraining harness. A good idea, as it turned out.
Captain Short gunned the makeshift shuttle down the magnetized approach rail. The fins shook, sending twin waves of sparks cascading past the portholes. Holly adjusted the internal gyroscopes, otherwise there'd be Mud People vomiting all over the cockpit.
Holly's thumbs hovered over the turbo buttons. 'OK. Well, let's see what this bucket can do.'
'Don't go trying for any records, Holly,' said Foaly over the speakers. 'That ship is not built for speed. I've seen more aerodynamic dwarfs.'
Holly grunted. After all, what was the point in flying slowly? None whatsoever. And if you happened to terrify a few Mud Men along the way, well, that was just an added bonus.
The service tunnel opened on to the main chute. Artemis gasped. It was an awe-inspiring sight. You could drop Mount Everest down this chute and it wouldn't even hit the sides. A deep red glow pulsed from the Earth's core like the fires of hell, and the constant crack of contracting rock smacked the hull like physical blows.